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| Source: KU Sports |
It was Senior Day in Lawrence on Saturday and the
Kansas Jayhawks nearly gave its fans a Superb Senior Sendoff. The Hawks, who
fell to 2-8 (0-7), deserved a win after playing their hearts out, but a man
with the moniker, RG3, would say otherwise.
It was a valiant effort
by the Jayhawks, who fell short of a monumental upset, 31-30, to the hands of
the No. 25 Baylor Bears. After taking a 24-3 lead into the 3rd
quarter, the Jayhawks surrendered 21 unanswered to Baylor quarterback Robert
Griffin. Griffin, arguably one of the most dangerous players in the country, was
flustered all day, but had a Vince Young-esque fourth quarter showing, and the
Bears won it in overtime on a failed two point conversion by Kansas.
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| Source: KU Sports |
Kansas City is looking
to rename Arrowhead and Kaufmann Stadium, homes of the city’s 2 major sports
teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals. Rather than keeping
these tradition-rich names, the franchises feel that they can make a few more
bucks by selling out the name to some big-name company.
Speaking of ending
traditions, the University of Missouri is terminating a rivalry with Kansas and
its other Midwestern ties solely because of the SEC and the money that comes
with it.
And, on a more national scale, we saw setbacks with both the Penn State scandal and the NBA Lockout just this past week. This
topic could make for a blog of its own—its own site for that matter—so I’m really failing
to even scratch the surface of this notorious issue. In short, I'm disappointed.
Saturday’s loss aside,
I am glad to see from top to bottom, Kansas is running a clean program. Chancellor
Bernadette Gray-Little, who I have the utmost respect for, sent out this call to
action to all KU students after the Penn State debacle hit the fan:
Our
duty to our community
Dear KU Community,
The shocking allegations of
abuse at Penn State serve as a reminder to us all of the importance of
reporting crimes and other offenses to the proper authorities, including law
enforcement.
Beyond any legal
responsibilities, we each have a moral obligation to look out for the safety of
the other members of our community, especially when they are children.
The state’s mandatory
reporting law does not cover institutions of higher education, but we are
examining changes to KU’s own policies which would codify that responsibility
for our employees.
Again, it is our duty as
human beings to immediately report to police any abuse or sexual assault
of a child, including reports you receive from others.
This
page lists a number of different resources available to members
of our community. Please utilize these resources if you or someone you
know needs help.
Sincerely,
Bernadette Gray-Little
Chancellor
Turner Gill was asked
earlier in the week about a “protocol” in criminal situations, and Gill clearly
understood the policy. Gray-Little is running a sharp institution right now and
I really appreciate this gesture because I am absolutely sickened by the
scandal. The entire Penn State athletic department—heck—the entire school is
morally corrupt. Child safety takes the backseat to nothing. Not money, not
fame, not football games! I don’t want to go into the scandal because I
am completely repulsed by it, so if you haven’t heard about it, this should
quench your thirst for the time being (warning: a little graphic).
I’m sorry for going on
a tangent, but I felt like it needed to be addressed. Even when I found my seat
in Memorial Stadium for the last time this year, I kept the dark side of sports
in the back of my mind. Call me soft, but football really is just a game, and I
would rather lose blowout football games Saturday after Saturday on end than to
see my program win championships, only to unearth some horrifying scandal years
later.
Penn State, one of the
most widely revered programs in the nation, with “deity” and football
mastermind Joe Paterno at the helm, shocked the world with this news. I felt
like vomiting after Baylor scored 28 unanswered points and won, but when I put
it in perspective, the loss the Jayhawks suffered on the field compares in no
way shape or form to the children who were victimized by these vile acts.
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| Source: KU Sports |
So now that I have
gotten you guys all riled up, let’s take an escape from reality and talk
football. To the surprise of 35,188 fans, Saturday’s game was not another blowout loss. Instead, Kansas
played a very competitive game with a high-flying ranked team, only to have the
game stolen from them late. I want to iterate: coming into the game, Baylor was
ranked 2nd nationally in total offense. They were first in pass
efficiency, second in first downs, ninth in scoring offense (41.5 ppg), fifth
in passing offense, and 22nd in rushing offense. Kansas was giving
up 541 yards per game. The 20 pt. favorite Baylor Bears seemed like a really
safe bet for the odds makers in Vegas, but a lot of betting folks lost money on
Saturday.
Week 11
Box-Score Courtesy of: KU Athletics
Scoring Summary (OT quarter)
Baylor (6-3,3-3) vs. Kansas (2-8,0-7)
Date: Nov 12, 2011
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 OT [ 5 ] Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -- [ - ] -----
Baylor.............. 0 3 0 21 7 [ 7 ] - 31
Kansas.............. 3 14 7 0 6 [ 6 ] - 30
A week before, Baylor had put up 697 yards against Missouri and won 42-39, so as I watched Griffin struggle to get into any sort of rhythm I was ecstatic. Terrance Gannaway was held to just 45 yards, he is averaging 105 on the year.
Baylor was only allowed
58 plays to Kansas’s 91, over the course of the game. In the first quarter
Baylor ran just 12 plays for 33 yards; Kansas ran 20 for 73. In the second
quarter, Baylor had 12 for 92; Kansas had 29 for 118. In the third quarter,
Baylor had just 3 plays for three yards; Kansas had 19 plays for 109! Kansas out-gained Baylor 310-190 through 3 quarters.
How a Vic Shealy coached
defense not only slowed down the Bears, but absolutely dismantled them through
3 quarters, I couldn’t tell you. Could my Saturday get any better, I thought? Suddenly
I was worried that it was too good to be true and, sadly, I was right. In the 4th
quarter, Baylor had 19 plays for 290 yards, while Kansas had 23 plays for just
73 yards. The defense struggled late, the offense stalled, and it looked like
the young guys just didn’t know how to finish a ball-game. A complication of
reasons kept KU from upsetting the Bears and winning their first conference
game this year.
FULL SCREEN VERSION
Animated Drive Chart brought to you by Gameday Depot.
Animated Drive Chart brought to you by Gameday Depot.
The game felt strangely similar to the Texas Tech game earlier this year, when KU jumped out to a 20-0 lead, only to lose 45-34. For starters, KU caught a lot of breaks early, they received the opening kickoff IN BOTH HALVES (Kansas deferred to the second half, and Baylor chose to defend the south end-zone because of the wind, so Kansas elected to receive both times). Everything, and I mean everything—well outside of 8 reviewed plays (I’m not even going to get into)—was going Kansas’s way in the early going, so Baylor was only bound to catch a few breaks. This time around, Kansas maintained that super-human play for not just a few possessions in the first quarter, but for ¾ of the game. Unfortunately the final stanza left much to be desired.
Ugh, it was a mirror
image of the Texas Tech game, right? Maybe. But when I thought long and hard,
it really felt eerily similar to the Texas game 2004 (as you can tell, I am
struggling to live that one down!). In all seriousness, the Hawks played above
their talent level against a heavily favored opponent and were screwed by a
freak of a quarterback and pass interference. Nonetheless, there were still a lot of bright spots. I think I’m gonna’ say it: maybe
not all is lost with this team. Granted, I’m slow to jump back on to the Gill
bandwagon because we saw improvement in the last 3rd of the season in 2010 as well…
BUT, if Kansas can
replicate this performance in their last 2 showings, when they bid adieu to
Texas A&M and Missouri, then I will fall victim to Gill’s ‘Improved
November.’ Check that, I will write a 50 page thesis on why Sheahon Zenger
should keep Turner Gill. I think somebody has to be axed come season's end, but it might
not have to be Turner... yet.
Besides, Kansas has players in the fold that came solely because of the staff, a la Reggie Mitchell and
his recruiting prowess, so if it cuts the staff loose it may lose players as well
(Tony Pierson, Brandon Bourbon, and Keeston Terry are prime suspects for transferring). Even this
year’s recruiting class is shaping up to be another good one. Heck, Saturday
proved that there is big-time talent here already (see Miller and Pierson)! Although
it still is somewhat sparse!
Turner Gill is such an
easy guy to root for. At times, I’ve found him to be a little hokey, like Tim
Tebow, because football and morality don’t exactly go hand-in-hand (see Penn
State, Miami, and THE Ohio State), but what I saw Saturday was about as genuine
as can be. The Jayhawks, who, from what I’ve heard, might jerk some tears in
this weeks’ Gridiron, were emotional in the locker room and that translated to
a warrior-like effort on the field. Gill was noticeably angered by the refs and
Jordan Webb, who threw for 3 interceptions, 2 of which were unnecessary. Gill
realizes what is at stake here and on Saturday I saw a man not only fighting
for his job, but for his players. Gill and staff look battle-worn and I don’t
think they have been getting their recommended “8-hours of sleep”. I really wish Saturday
would have turned out better for him, but Like always, there are plenty of
positives to take from the game…
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| Source: KU Sports |
Defensively, DE Keba
Agostinho forced a fumble on a pitch, when he stayed at home and forced Griffin
to stay outside on an option. DBs Keeston Terry and Tyler Patmon shut down the
screen passes that burned us last year, 52-7.
And even on plays where
KU didn’t seem to execute, it was mostly because of Baylor execution, rather
than KU incompetency. Although it looked like Kansas cornerback Isaiah Barfield
got burned on a late touchdown pass, there was more to it than that. Bradley
McDougald went down midway through the 4th quarter, and Kansas was
forced to send in Ray Mitchell for one play. Head Coach Art Briles and Robert Griffin
saw it fit to pick on the redshirt freshman and sure enough, Mitchell missed
his assignment and WR Terrence Williams hauled in a 36 yard touchdown pass to
cut the Kansas lead to 7, 24-17. Barfield was the one who got the boos, but it wasn't all his fault. It’s tough to expect a young guy like Mitchell
to be able to stick with such athletic receivers, while maintaining his role, just after replacing McDougald.
Then on the next BU possession, Keeston Terry had
solid coverage on a downfield pass to WR Tevin Reese, but a stiff southerly
breeze knocked the ball down. Reese came back on the ball and left Terry in the
dust. Had the wind not made for a wounded duck and a terribly underthrown ball,
Terry would have batted the ball away. Baylor had tied the game 24-24 and the
defense was supposedly at fault.
Also, although it wasn’t
a game changer (because Kansas senior Anthony Davis would intercept him just 2
plays later at the KU 16) Griffin scrambled for 20 yards on 4th and
3, juking around Kansas defenders. All I could think of was KU vs. UT 2004. It really was "shades of Vince Young",
who had ran for a 4th and 18 just a short 7 years ago to this very
day. Griffin would redeem himself after the INT with a 49 yard TD run with 11:45 left in the
game to cut the 3 score deficit to 2.
Had KU been facing a
normal human being at quarterback in the 4th quarter, I’d have a
different tune to sing today. Griffin threw for 3 TDs and rushed for 1 in just
the 4th quarter and overtime combined.
Even the critical
facemask to end the half called on Davis, giving Baylor 3 points, was
questionable. Turns out Vic Shealy and Steven Johnson agree (Updated on 11/16/11 at 2:30 PM: It looks like that will cost them now, but it looks well worth it. So, just like 2004, a coach was fined by rightfully ripping the officials after the game).
Steven Johnson’s last
game at Memorial Stadium was gutsy to say the least. He played with his same intensity
and passion that he has played with all year; he had an interception called back via replay, 10 tackles,
including one on special teams, and an athletic fumble recovery. We’re going to
miss him dearly.
Bradley McDougald played
well and has played well in the past two, maybe three outings. In the past 2
games he has registered 21 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, an interception, 1
forced fumble, and 2 pass breakups. One play in particular that stood out as a ringing
endorsement for the junior safety’s improved play was on a Baylor 'double pass
gadget play'. McDougald showed great poise and recovery speed and he batted the
ball away from the Bear receiver. Against Georgia Tech, McDougald would have
bitten badly on the play and been out of position, now he has tamed his
aggressive nature just enough so that he can stick with his assignment; even so,
he still comes up strong in run support.
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| Source: KU Sports |
Offensively, there was
improved play, but Webb’s interceptions killed the momentum of the game and,
for the first time, Turner let him have it. How is that Turner Gill’s fault,
people? Webb just made several poor decisions that cost the team the game and Gill
was noticeably frustrated with his QB. He did show heart, though, in forcing a
fumble after his interception.
The offensive line
deserves credit. Duane Zlatnik is a strong man, Hatch and Spikes played very
well (Hatch had probably the hustle play of the year in recovering the fumble
after INT). Darrian Miller looks to be the number 1 horse, rushing for 147
yards, the most by a KU freshman since 1993, when June Henley ran for 148 against Nebraska. James Sims, last year's break-out freshman, was utilized well, scoring on a strong run where the nose of the
football just barely crossed the plane. Tony Pierson broke off a huge 34 yard TD; he
flat out runs like a deer (I can see him getting even more touches with Brandon Bourbon out for the year with a leg injury). And Christian Matthews was very effective out of the
Jayhawk, even though we are still yet to see a pass out of it.
Outside of Webb’s poor
play and Marquise Jackson key drop late in the 4th quarter, the
offensive seemed to get back on track against the 9th worst defense
in the Big 12 (yes, the Bears defense is slightly better than ours).
And about “the play”,
all I can say is that the pass interference kills us again. This time it was a
no-call P.I., and Baylor walked away unscathed. Had one of the 3 judges thrown
their stinking flag, Kansas would have capitalized and the fairy-tale ending
would be complete. Instead, the game ended especially sour.
Overtime in College
Football is a lot like extra-inning baseball. Based on what the first offense
does, the second offense must at least match it, or top it. It was Kansas's first overtime game since September 30, 2006, when they fell to No. 21 Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, 39-32. The last time they had played a home overtime game was back in 2005 when KU became bowl eligible, beating Iowa State 24-21.
Baylor scored first, and Kansas struck back on the first play, a 25 yard strike from Webb to TE Tim Biere. Instead of playing it safe, though, Kansas swung for the fences and went for 2. Baylor would storm the field after their defense held, and Kansas took another tough loss.
Baylor scored first, and Kansas struck back on the first play, a 25 yard strike from Webb to TE Tim Biere. Instead of playing it safe, though, Kansas swung for the fences and went for 2. Baylor would storm the field after their defense held, and Kansas took another tough loss.
In hindsight, I still love
the decision, but not the play call. Gill’s idol/mentor, Tom Osborne, was an
influence on the game oddly…
I really thought if they
were going to throw the ball they would have ran the misdirection pass play to
Biere. What I really hoped for was the Jayhawk, I mean they rushed for about
300 yards, with either Sims or Miller.
If you win, you don’t
have to answer any questions. Had Tim Biere hauled in that 2 point conversion,
we would have all been praising Gill’s name. KU played to win, they didn’t play
to not lose. I think with a team that has been struggling to be competitive, it
is important to know that you lost the game because you tried to win the
game, not because you tried not to lose it. And with RG3 catching fire right
before our eyes, it was a smart call to make the Baylor defense win the game
rather than their offense.
On to the next one,
huh? A&M is currently a 30 point favorite at home against the “depleted” Jayhawks,
but I expect another gutsy performance from a suddenly resilient Jayhawks
bunch. 30 points is flat out disrespecting this team. Call me naive, ignorant,
or insane, but I’m betting against a blowout. You know what, I’m betting
against the spread. Heck, I’m betting on the Hawks.
The Baylor perspective of the game:
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